pass the dutchie on the lefthand side

So sarah and I decided after not finding a flight to pucket, to go to Ko chang which was recommended by our friend Carolyn who studied in Thailand. She said it was not as developed as Ko Phi Phi (and not as beautiful) but was still a nice beach haven.

There are many beaches on Ko Chang, the island of the Elephant, so we decided to go to Lonely Beach as it is a more popular place with more nightlife. This decision came after not staying at Khoasan Road in Bangkok for that exact reason. We left Bangkok at 8am for a 6 hour bus ride to the ferry where we waited an hour for the ferry hungry, but thinking, we should be leaving any minute. Then we had a 30 minute bus ride to the ferry where we just watched the last one leave – giving us another 30 minute time to wait. Whoo hoo! After the hour ferry ride we arrived on the island of Ko Chang where we then had about another 45 minute drive to Lonely Beach. Whew! Finished!

The bus driver drives down a dirt road into a bit of jungle to let us off at Lonely Beach. Sarah and I climb out and look around….here we are surrounded by a good amount of jungle, dirt, bungalows and trash. What in the…..We kinda stand there for a moment…is this was Carolyn had recommended to us? Now, don’t get me wrong, it’s a cool place…and it gets cooler…but when you are thinking of Vietnam’s chill flat beach roads with sand everywhere and climb out into the jungle with a lot of trash around, it’s a bit of a shock.

So we start walking down the muddy roads looking for the beach and a place to stay. This will be ok if we can find a nice beach hut on the ocean….First place we stopped, 300bath = 10$ and they are bungalows in the jungle (with trash). I look around spotting a long haired dude drinking a brewsky on the porch of his bungalow back in the jungle a bit…uh, lets keep walking. But it seems like those are our only options. Except for a super nice resort with “seaside villas.” Here we find white cement, a view of the beach, and hopefully not death by snake. Being the scaredy cat that I am, I opt to live luxuriously. And it was nice, comfortable, clean and had a great feeling.

After getting a little bit better acclimated with our new hippie surroundings we decided it was not so bad. Now, I quickly discovered that I am not as cool and relaxed as I think I am. No,ma’am. I mean I think Bob Marley and dreads are awesome. Even tattoos are cool. But I am a giant poser. Lonely Beach is full of dreadlocked, hippie clothes, relaxed and oh so cool people. Each restaurant and bar is nestled in the jungle with trees growing everywhere, with no roofs. Christmas lights decorate the trees and people are selling tattoos, jewelry and massages to you in a relaxed fashion.

Lonely Beach was cool, if you are looking for the ultimate hippie hideout where you can meet new people and share ideas together. Definitely the place to be. But as for Sarah and I…the next morning we took the taxi to White Beach.